KIMBERLY, Alabama - The city of Kimberly has paid off a delinquent
fee to the district attorney's office in the amount of $8,499.

The Kimberly City Council voted Monday night to use money
from the general fund to make the payment. City Clerk Sandy Waid said Tuesday that a law passed in 2010 called for an increase
in fees, but the city never knew about the additional charge because it
happened around the same time the city changed court clerks.

The delinquent solicitor
fees totaled around $16,000, but the city has been making payments,
according to Mayor Bob Ellerbrock.

The council's vote to pay the remanding $8,499 clears the debt. "Right now we have the money, and while we
have it we should probably pay this and get it out of the way so we're back to
flush," Ellerbrock said Monday.

Ellerbrock also said Kimberly is losing money on court, and
last year ran -$5,671, which is why the delinquent solicitor fees were paid out
of the general fund.

"Normally, you're transferring money from your court fund to
your general fund and you pay your attorney solicitor fees out of that," he
said. "The fact that we're running short on our court fees is putting us in the position where we're now
taking money out of the general fund to pay for our court cost basically."

Ellerbrock said city leaders need to think about ways to
reduce court cost.

"We need to figure out a way to get our court cost way down
or look at restructuring our whole system because this city can't afford to run
out of the general fund our court cost as well," he said.